How to prepare your online store and servers for Black Friday - technical guide for e-commerce

Preparing for Black Friday — where to start?

Black Friday is the time of the year when online stores record sales increases, but also... there are problems that can apear. Overloaded infrastructure, payment errors or cyber attacks can negatively affect profits, which is especially evident in the fourth quarter of the year, when we need to be ready to handle a large number of orders. Remember that it is also worth taking care of stable e-commerce integrations, which will enable efficient order fulfillment, quick stock updates and hassle-free payment processing. The list of “to do” things before Q4 can seem overwhelming, which is why preparations for Black Friday should start well in advance.

So where to start? The simplest thing is to analyze the problems we encountered during the last increase in traffic, and then successively look for solutions. Your store has always worked stably, but you still want to prepare for the unpredictable? In the following paragraphs we will describe how to take care of the foundations: security, reliability and scalability.

The technical side of the power: hosting and servers of the online store

The stability of the operation of e-commerce largely depends on how its infrastructure is designed and maintained. Even the best-prepared marketing campaign will not bring results if the page becomes unavailable at the time of a sharp increase in customer inquiries. It is worth remembering that weak points related to IT infrastructure are most often revealed precisely during periods of greatest workload — when sales should be at a record level. That is why regular tests (performance or stress tests), monitoring and preparation of mechanisms to respond to overloads before customers feel their effects are so important. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss how to protect your e-commerce from forced sales interruptions.

Infrastructure load monitoring — know when to respond

The promotion is triggered, and the store instead of attracting customers... stops working? If Black Friday server issues is your nightmare, this paragraph is a great reminder for you. Promotion alone is not enough, you also need to prepare to handle a lot of traffic. Anticipate the dangers of failures and take appropriate action as soon as the first warning signs appear. How to do it?

Take advantage of monitoring systems and tools that track the use of server resources — CPU, RAM or link bandwidth — in real time. Automatic alerts will help you react before server and hosting overload occurs. Below you will find a diagram that illustrates the operation process of such infrastructure monitoring.

How to avoid store crashes during Black Friday? Server scalability as a key to success

Every e-store dreams of attracting record traffic on Black Friday, but the sudden increase in the number of users can be the biggest enemy of the stability of the system. If your infrastructure is not prepared for sudden spikes in load, you run the risk of failure at the worst possible moment. The solution is scalability, i.e., the potential to dynamically and automatically increase server power exactly when the store needs it. Why scalability rather than just increasing server bandwidth during the hottest period? This solution helps us not to overpay for infrastructure — that is, to achieve a win-win situation. The lack of scalability of the IT infrastructure can lead to unnecessary downtime in sales, or vice versa, even if we pay much more for servers than usual, we may simply not use all the purchased resources and thus waste the budget.

Providing the right hosting for high traffic

What else is worth remembering on Black Friday in the context of protecting the store from a spike in traffic? The computing power of the server itself is not everything — it also counts the resilience of the entire infrastructure to suspensions. Therefore, it is worth taking care of mirror servers (so-called mirroring), which perform a backup function — if the main server stops working, the copy takes over its role and the store continues to function without downtime.

Another element that significantly improves stability is CDN (Content Delivery Network). Thanks to the distribution of content between multiple servers in different locations, traffic is evenly distributed, which has a positive effect on the acceleration of the e-commerce store.

Is your e-commerce safe? On Black Friday, bet on cybersecurity

Black Friday is not only a time of promotions and increased sales, but also an increase in the activity of cybercriminals. Phishing, hacking attempts or DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks can completely paralyze an online store. Therefore, if your e-commerce is not yet properly secured, do it before the Black Friday shopping spree occurs. What safeguards are worth implementing?

Online store SSL certificate — what is it and how to implement it?

The SSL certificate ensures that the communication between the browser and the server is encrypted, which prevents the capture of sensitive information such as logins, passwords or payment card numbers of users. Its absence is a real threat of a cyber attack, which can lead to a drastic decrease in customer trust.

However, the use of this type of certification in an online store is not only the basis for secure transactions or protection of user data, it is a sign that your e-commerce cares about its customers. If a person hunting for promotions on Black Friday, will have two online stores to choose from, in one of them he or she will see a green padlock in the address bar and in the other the warning “Unsecured page”... what do you think, which e-commerce will they choose? Offer your customers not only discounts, but also a guarantee of safety.

Prepare your online store to protect against bots

Unfortunately, with the development of technology, more and more often we will have to not only use it, but also protect ourselves from it. In 2025, bots are a real threat. Automated programs are able to send huge amounts of false queries generating artificial traffic that slows down the functioning of the store and thus effectively discourages customers from shopping. In other words, if your business falls victim to an e-commerce DDoS attack, customers will quickly move to a competitor's site and finalize their carts there.

That is why anti-DDoS solutions that have been created to protect online stores from these types of threats become so important. Professional anti-DDoS systems for online stores analyze traffic in real time, distinguishing sessions generated by real customers from automated queries created by bots. False requests are immediately rejected, so the server does not lose resources for handling them, and the site works stably even during a DDoS attempt.

This protection can be complemented by so-called Web Application Firewalls, which filter data sent to the store and detect unusual activities: for example, massive login attempts, brute force attacks or suspicious query sequences. For larger e-commerce, it is also worth implementing behavioral monitoring, which identifies unnatural behavior patterns on the site and allows you to quickly respond to anomalies.

The result of the implementation of such security systems of the online store is the uninterrupted availability of your e-commerce during the promotion period, the protection of transactions and the comfort of customers, who can freely browse the offer and finalize purchases, even when a cyber attack is going on in the background.

Reduce phishing vulnerability — protect your customers

One of the most common threats to online stores is phishing, which is sending fake emails impersonating a brand. Customers may receive alleged notifications of a payment problem, a request for an additional payment to the order or a fake “track the shipment” link. Such messages look like authentic correspondence from your store, but in reality lead to phishing or redirection of payments to the account of cybercriminals.

Safely storing customer data is the first and crucial step of protection. Appropriate security reduces the risk of email leaks, making it harder for cybercriminals to send crafted messages impersonating a store. They may try to send fake emails to random people, but the likelihood that someone will click on such a link is much lower if they have never been a customer of the brand. Another step that strengthens the data protection of e-commerce customers is the proper configuration of mail servers using SPF, DKIM and DMARC mechanisms. These solutions ensure that only authorized servers send messages on behalf of the store, so customers receive only authentic emails and are better protected from phishing.

Suspicious activity monitoring systems

One of the most important ways to ensure cybersecurity in e-commerce is to use tools that automatically analyze website traffic and detect irregularities that may indicate an attempted cyber attack. In practice, this means that monitoring mechanisms constantly collect information about the number of logins, the speed of requests to the server, unusual user behavior or sudden load jumps. If an anomaly occurs, for example, a sharp increase in the number of login attempts or suspicious actions from one IP address, the system immediately notifies administrators and can block such attempts. This avoids a situation in which access to the store is blocked by a hacker attack or unavailability of the website during peak hours. Online store monitoring gives owners the opportunity to quickly respond to any incidents, and additionally provides reports showing what previous threats looked like. Thanks to this, we know if our store is safe and what we possibly have to watch out for.

E-commerce reliability during Black Week: tests, tests and more tests

How to avoid downtime in the online store during the promotion? Prepare the right strategy and hedge against all possibilities. During periods of peak traffic, such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday, any technical problem can mean a loss of revenue and customer trust. The failure of an online store during Black Friday is a scenario that too often spoils the effects of long-term marketing preparations. That's why automated tests which run every day or several times a day and verify the key elements of the store, are so important – from the operation of the forms, through the cart and any integrations, to the completion of the order. Thanks to solutions in the field of customer service automation, we can check on an ongoing basis whether the system is ready for a sudden increase in e-commerce orders and whether nothing will surprise you at a crucial moment of sale.

At Sagiton, we use test mechanisms ourselves, which is why we know how important this type of optimization is. Automatic tests in our company start even before the working day of our team begins, thanks to which the marketing department starts the day with confidence that the website is working properly and the campaigns will not go in vain. Below are 3 types of tests that can be crucial for your store on “Black Friday”.

Automated testing to detect potential integration failures

Problems with the integration of an online store can paralyze sales at the least expected moment. A typical mistake of e-commerce integration is, for example, a temporary lack of synchronization of stock balances, which leads to situations in which customers during the promotion order products that are not available in stock or receive conflicting information about the status of the shipment. And this is where automated testing, which simulates the entire purchasing process, comes in handy – from adding a product to your cart, checking stock availability, to confirming shipment – it can immediately report any irregularities. Testing such user paths is most needed precisely during periods of sales and increased discounts. Thanks to this, the store owner learns about problems faster than consumers, and the potential failure of the online store on Black Friday is averted before it becomes a real crisis.

Enhancing the security of online payments and testing them

Nothing discourages customers like the failure of an online payment at the time of finalizing the order. Increased traffic and a sudden rise of numbers of orders during the ongoing promotion can strain payment systems to the limit, and every second of delay increases the risk of cart abandonment. Appropriate customization of automated tests allows you to regularly verify the correctness of payment processes – from redirection to the operator, through authorization, to confirmation of purchase in the store system. This solution reduces the risk of delays in the execution of orders. Take care of the performance of your store and react to potential problems before your new customers find them looking for the best price opportunities.

How to detect potential errors in order statuses

Delays in order fulfillment often result from seemingly invisible errors in integration processes. Problems with the integration of the online store may cause the payment system to confirm the transaction, but the order information will not go to the warehouse. Other times, the lack of stock synchronization leads to a situation in which the customer buys a product that is no longer physically present. Automated testing of order statuses allows you to simulate the entire service process – and catch errors before they have a real impact on the customer. This approach ensures that order automation runs smoothly, and you can steer clear of Black Friday store failures.

Preparing for Black Friday – summing up

Black Friday is the moment when your online store can break sales records or... lose the trust of customers due to technical problems. Remember that preparing e-commerce for sales peaks is a process that requires not only good marketing, but above all a solid technical foundation. It is testing, monitoring and well-chosen server security that ensure that even at the height of the shopping frenzy you can sleep soundly. It is worth remembering that reliability and safety are the foundation on which customers build their loyalty to the brand. If you take care of them in advance, Black Friday will become not a threat, but the greatest opportunity for the development of your e-commerce.

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